Did you know that the USDA publishes a weekly comprehensive update on weather and climate conditions around the US? If not, you might want to take a look at it to see if any of the information is useful to you. You can find the latest one at https://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ftpref/support/drought/dmrpt-20180712.pdf. You should be able to get to other weeks by putting in the correct date into the link, or you can get a list of files at https://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ftpref/support/drought/.
